


A Different Christmas Special

by artisticFlutter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Special Crossover, Crossover, Gen, Jack isn't looking for trouble, Jack's trying to do his job, Ladybug's protective, Miraculous Users can see the Guardians, No Akumatization, SADrien, Suspicious Ladybug is Suspicious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 08:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artisticFlutter/pseuds/artisticFlutter
Summary: Guardian of Fun and Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost is in Paris for Christmas. Upon seeing a black shadow skulking across the rooftops, he goes to investigate, expecting a being of fear... only to find a cat.





	A Different Christmas Special

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Miraculous Ladybug/Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir was created by Thomas Astruc and Zagtoons, Inc. Rise of the Guardians was created by William Joyce and DreamWorks. Please support the official releases.
> 
> Beta Reader: [PocketNoivern](http://archiveofourown.org/users/PocketNoivern/profile)

There was a certain magic to evenings like this, one that really emphasized the holidays, or maybe he just loved watching the snow fall. Yeah, it had to be that second one as his feet touched down on the very top of the great iron tower, icy, purple-tipped fingers expertly twirling his shepherd’s crook to point down. Wind gently ruffled his frost white hair while he watched it all from upon his perch, crystalline blue eyes filled with mirth as more flakes fell. Okay, so maybe being Jack Frost made him more biased to the latter, but it still made for a beautiful sight.

Another year of snowfall in Paris right on Christmas, and the City of Lights did not fail in making each frozen flake glitter. He had been steadily herding in snow over the past week, but tonight was definitely worth the work. The people seemed brighter for the holidays, and all the snowmen and snowball fights (some he may have initiated) more than proved everyone was having fun.

… So, it raised the question of why he felt compelled to stay here.

It was almost midnight, and sure, while he had been watching North find more creative ways to sneak his presents into households considering how Parisians and other citizens of the country celebrated Christmas, the older Guardian had moved on already. There were other places for him to be and then even more across the ocean. Jack knew of a few states and provinces where he needed to deliver snow before they woke up tomorrow, but he could not turn away. Save for a few vehicles on the road, it was silent for the most part. Well, no, there was a Santa Claus impersonator going around and delivering some gifts with his own sleigh, but he didn’t see anyone else.

Deciding that he might have to fly down and have a closer look, he paused with one foot hanging in the air and narrowed his eyes. Leaning forward, he stared into the nearby arrondissement, tilting his head and focusing his eyes on the rooftops.

Jack could’ve sworn that, very briefly, he had seen a shadow streaking over the rooftop. Keeping himself calm, he took another step off with his staff clutched tight in one hand, and drifted down towards the closest rooftop where he thought the shadow was. Another streak of black against the twilight blue evening and his head whipped in its direction, brows furrowed now and guard rising. He doubted it was who immediately sprang to mind – Pitch had still be absent for a while, but nightmares and other various things popped up from time to time. If that was the case, he could handle it no problem.

Gliding from one roof to the next, he saw the shadow at the edge of a roof just above a large courtyard. Standing proudly in it was one of many Christmas trees Jack had seen around the city throughout the day decorated from the bottom to top in a multitude of color lights all the way to a golden glowing four-point star on top. The figure seemed to be staring at it, their back turned towards Jack, and he had to pause.

One eyebrow rose as he landed a short distance, steps alight by the wind, he noticed they looked human. However, they donned a bizarre black suit similar to the ones in various comic books the young Guardian had started reading. Two pointed black ears stood upon wild blonde hair, but Jack gripped his staff tighter. He still didn’t know who the figure was – another spirit? A vigilante? – but he didn’t like the way they clenched their fists.

Leaping down, they were still facing the tree as Jack drifted over to their now unoccupied spot, ready to stop them. Did he have to stop them?

“Cataclysm!”

… Something about that word gave him an unnatural, almost sickly chill that felt  _ completely _ wrong. And leaning over the ledge, he saw something bubbling around one of the feline clad individual’s claws as he charged towards the Christmas tree. It was just black, sparkling, and sinister seeing it draw closer to something so synonymous with holiday joy. The distance was shrinking, and Jack raised his staff to stop them, the crook of his staff glowing when he aimed.

But the figure stopped before he could fire his first ice bolt.

Their fingers twitched and their back was rigid. Grabbing their wrist with their other hand, they panicked, “I-I can’t do it! Egh!” Their head snapped and Jack’s eyes followed the direction to the column that appeared to be housing some perfume advertisement. Rushing over, the black clad figure placed their pulsing hand upon it, and the Winter Spirit’s eyes bulged as the entire structure turned dark. It wasn’t just the light illuminating it going out, but the entire column just turned black and crumbled to pieces.

Danger – there shouldn’t be anyone that dangerous allowed to linger around here, and yet, watching the figure hug themselves and sink into the snow, he held himself back from outright attacking them. After all, old Jack had his past moments of being mistaken for a dangerous spirit. Perhaps this one was like him.

Or not?

A blazing green light enshrouded them from their feet all the way up to their head, and Jack’s mouth opened when a boy somewhere around his human age was left there huddled in the snow. The pang came again and he placed an icy palm on his chest, watching the kid just sit there. Fun was… absent in this space. But that couldn’t be right; most kids managed to muster up  _ some _ good will,  _ some _ cheer for the holidays, but this one was miserable.

As the Guardian of Fun, it wouldn’t do to leave him like this.

Stepping off the building, wind gently set him down upon the snow where he approached the other boy, one hand tucked into his hoodie’s pocket while the other held his crook aloft. He considered his options on how to go about this – did he lob a snow ball? Did he make frost figures dance around his head? Beneath his feet, the snow held form for a Spirit like him; he was only a shadow to the kid – at least, he had to be on the cusp of forgetting the Tooth Fairy (Fairies he supposed given it was the European Division) and had probably long forgotten Santa Claus. And yet, watching the boy scramble for something in a panic, flailing hands froze as those bright green eyes looked up.

Jack paused because it seemed like the boy was looking at him, his fingers tightening on a wrapped package he’d tucked into his back pocket. Letting it go, he held his hands to his chest and seemed to be watching warily.

“… How long have you been there?”

Jack blinked, looked behind himself, and then looked back at the boy when he saw nothing. Leaning on his cane, he pointed to himself curiously, and the boy nodded.

“Huh…” That surprised him to say the least. “Usually kids your age stop seeing us by now. Guess there is the occasional adult, but…”

He trailed, realizing the teenager was still giving him a strange look while holding something to his chest. It was small and black with cat ears, and he gets a familiar feeling from it comparable to being around the other Guardians or spirits abound in the world. Did it have something to do with that whole suit?

“A little cold to be out wearing short sleeves, isn’t it?” Jack questioned, gesturing to the white short sleeve button-up and black shirt which he was pretty sure was more Spring or Summer’s weather attire with maybe a good day during Fall’s season. The jeans too seemed inadequate, but who was he to say; he never wore jeans.

“Uh, I’ll be okay.” Jack wasn’t convinced, but the boy stood up. The package he had slipped from his pocket and dropped into the snow, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I should go…”

“Oh? Where you headed?”

Almost gliding forward, he mimicked walking, and hummed as he picked up the dropped parcel. He held it out to the teen that again panicked and touched his back pocket with one hand, the other, still holding the small cat. Okay, weird vibes again…

“Thanks,” the blonde said, managing a small smile before accepting the gift and tucking it away again. “Uh… just around. For a walk… I needed the fresh air.”

“If it was just a walk, you would’ve worn a jacket… and maybe not jumped around looking like a cat.”

Head snapping back towards him, green eyes were wide. If he wasn’t pale before, the kid certainly did look pale now. A muffled protest came from the boy’s closed hand and abruptly, the small black cat just  _ phased _ through.

“Jig’s up, but it looks like we’re lucky it’s only a spirit… Though…” Raising a paw to his chin, Jack remained still as the flying cat thing moved around him almost like it was inspecting him. “… Huh, weird, and here I thought I knew everyone. Either I was asleep when you came around, or you never met the last set of heroes. Adrien, look, this kid would be around your age if he didn’t have three hundred more years on top of that.”

The boy – Adrien – choked, “Plagg!”

“I told you, it’s fine. You’re probably one of the few who can see him so he’s not about to tell anyone. Right, Frosty?”

“Heroes?” Jack had no idea what the black cat meant earning a luminescent stare.

“Superheroes like in those comic books,” Plagg explained, waving a lazy paw, “But, you know, real ones. At least I’m not the only one outta the loop.”

“Real superheroes? Cool…” Again, thanks to Jaime’s comic books, but Jack didn’t expect them to be real… or have magical animal sidekicks. Did the sidekicks make them more like Sophie’s magical girl shows? He wondered, but put that aside. Leaning on his crook, he grinned, “Anyway, Black Cat, name’s Jack Frost. Spirit of Winter and Guardian of Fun, and you are not having any fun. So, what’s up?”

Adrien’s face twisted, but he forced a small laugh, “Am I that obvious?” The smile only lasted for a second as he sighed. “… It’s our first Christmas at home without my Mother. I… I was hoping that my Father would come out so we could get through today together, but… he just continues to act like he’s the only one that misses her.”

Eyes wide, Jack hadn’t really expected the problem to be that bad. It wasn’t a new problem to deal with, but within this entire city, just standing beside Adrien felt like fun disappeared. What kind of life had the boy been living in his mother’s absence? And what kind of person was his dad? “… So you came out as your hero self and planned on destroying a Christmas tree?”

“… Maybe? I was… I kinda went around and saw other people enjoying their holiday, and my jealousy got to me. I stopped myself in the end, didn’t I?”

“Eh…” Jack still pointed to what was left of the perfume add and Adrien groaned, “Ladybug is going to skin me if she finds out what I was doing…”

When he noticed Jack raise his eyebrow, Adrien quickly elaborated. “Ladybug… she’s my partner. There’s no akuma around either! She’s going to know something was wrong and want to know why I wasted Cataclysm on public property!”

“Isn’t that a good thing though?” Even with Adrien freaking out, Jack just took the opportunity to say his piece. He had to be listening… kind of. “I mean, yeah, you wrecked the ad, but why not just tell her about your day? As your partner, she should hear you out when you’re having a hard time, right?”

Unclenching his fingers, Adrien stood silent, but his eyes grew. “... Yeah, right. You’re right, Jack.” He was smiling again; a small one, but a smile nonetheless. “I doubt there will be an akuma tonight, but someone might see the ad in the morning. I’ll talk to her then.”

Jack beamed. That was good to hear, and the void around Adrien seemed to lessen a bit. They still had to work on him having more fun overall, but this was a start. No kid should go about having a bad Christmas.

“You still wanna go for that walk, or do you think you’re ready to head home?” he asked, leaning onto his crook. “Besides talking to Ladybug, maybe you should go talk to your dad. He probably doesn’t mean to avoid you today, but like you said, he is really missing your mom.”

“… It’s hard trying to talk to him, but I guess I should’ve seen him instead of running out.”

Head turning, Jack said nothing as Adrien addressed Plagg. “Sorry for making you transform tonight. I forgot to give you Camembert too.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it. If you’re feeling better now, just get me some once we get back.”

Adrien nodded, and to Jack, that would mean they were good to go. He’d get the superhero and his cat fairy ducking beneath his over shirt home before they got any colder.

Or… he would, but that was a spotted yo-yo suddenly snapping in his face, forcing him to drift back a step.

“Woah!”

“L-Ladybug!?”

Both boys whipped their heads around and caught sight of the heroine striding through the snow, her weapon snapping back into her palm. Indeed she fit the image of a ladybug-themed hero given the red spandex suit and domino mask dotted with black spots. They remained stricken, terrified to move as she marched towards them. Jack was even surprised that he didn’t want to try standing up to her; if she was like Adrien, she was just human beneath the suit, but having her hard ocean eyes leering at him – fixed  _ only _ on him – told him a single misstep might get that yo-yo knocking against his forehead. She kept him there, stepping closer to Adrien, and Jack wondered if maybe he should hold his hands up.

Once she was next to the blonde, her eyes moved, most likely to take everything in.

“… What did you do to Chat Noir?”

“… Excuse me?"  Jack glanced at Adrien who immediately shook his head. “I… didn’t do anything? It was like that when I got here?”

“Likely story, akuma,” she growled. He cocked his head and felt his brows pinch while Adrien just gaped. “You kidnapped Adrien and Chat Noir came to save him. Just because the snow’s covering up your fight, he still used Cataclysm. Again, _where_ _is Chat Noir?_ ”

“Hey! I don’t even know what an akuma  _ is _ !” Jack exclaimed, putting his hands up. He was a spirit, but why did it feel like she might beat him up? Considering she was twirling up her yo-yo, he might have about five seconds.

“Wait! Ladybug, that didn’t happen!” Adrien exclaimed, rushing in front of her with his own hands up to stop her. She moved to step around, but he barred her still, holding her back while he quickly explained. “I wasn’t kidnapped. I… I left on my own to get from fresh air, okay? And Chat Noir was apparently patrolling tonight and hanging out with Jack Frost… they both were trying to cheer me up and he accidentally used Cataclysm on the advertisement.”

“Really? He’s not  _ that _ reckless…!” Ladybug exclaimed, though, she had stopped and crossed her arms. She seemed to be considering the information, maybe considering her partner. The Spirit wondered why Adrien so freely threw his superhero ego under the bus. However, he watched as Ladybug tapped her arm and closed her eyes, her lips curling downward. “… He’s not always that reckless. Why was he out on Christmas? I told him we didn’t have to patrol tonight…”

That last part she had mumbled, her brow ticked. Ever so slowly behind Adrien, Jack lowered his hands and leaned to look past the other boy, “So… you’re not going to hit me with that yo-yo, right?”

Her eyes snapped open and he actually felt a chill down his spine. Glaring for several more seconds, she soon sighed, “Jack Frost was it? No… I don’t trust you, but if Adrien says you’re not an akuma, I’ll believe him. As for the sign, I’ll have to talk to Chat Noir tomorrow. Still…” Any consideration of exhaling was put on hold when her eyes shifted away and her expression softened.

“Adrien, why’d you leave home? Your dad panicked and his secretary called everyone from your school and then some to find you…”

“… He did?”

“Yeah… Is that really surprising?”

Ladybug’s question was shared with Jack. The fact it made Adrien speechless had him concerned.

“… Hey,” Ladybug started, taking a step towards Adrien and placing her hands on his shoulders. “Look, you don’t have to tell me why you left without talking to anyone, but you should go home and talk to your dad. If it’ll help, I can stay with you.”

Waiting for an answer, Jack took a moment to gaze towards the sky, noting the abundance of snowflakes beginning to fall. The flurry he scheduled was coming in and Adrien was still ill-dressed between the three of them. He didn’t know how insulated Ladybug’s outfit was either. His feet left the ground and he floated over, careful sidling up to the heroine’s shoulder. Her eyes darted over to him and flashed a warning before returning to Adrien. It was apparent the boy in question was conflicted, but it was also physically evident he was shivering.

“Hey, Adrien, we can all go back together,” Jack offered. Though Ladybug was incredulous, the spirit continued, “Ladybug and I will be there to support you, but he’ll only see Ladybug. Two for one and your father will be none the wiser. Besides, you should get inside and warm up. Maybe you two can have some hot chocolate.”

“Hot chocolate? I don’t know, ‘Jack Frost’… Mr. Agreste looks like he only drinks coffee,” Ladybug joked. There was still a bite in her tone hinting to her caution, but Jack couldn’t blame her. Whatever these akumas were that it was necessary for superheroes to deal with them, it was in her right to want to protect a missing citizen – her secret partner.

At least the banter between them seemed to earn a soft chuckle from Adrien.

“It would be rude to decline your offers… and in fact, I would appreciate both of you being with me,” Adrien answered, smiling widely. “My dad won’t be happy. So, if you both really don’t mind…”

The air around him was improving, but it still wavered. This certainly was a curious case for the Guardian to have, but he couldn’t stay forever until it resolved. Hopefully, going back and speaking with Adrien’s father would begin resolving the issue, but the fact it was like this at all…

No, there was something else going on. The holiday joy was coating it right now, but he gripped his staff at the feeling of something sinister slithering beneath the purity, waiting coiled to strike. Feeling eyes on him, he managed to plaster a smile on his face and signaled for them to leap. Yup, there was a magic to this evening, but whatever it had cast itself over, it would be back. The Guardians would have to be notified.

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I've been working on this for a while after the Christmas Special came out and pretty much... didn't finish it until now. Christmas in July? I guess you can say that, haha. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to have crossover interactions between Adrien and Jack (but I love all crossover interactions and might be doing more in the future because why not? Also, RotG!AU with Adrien and Marinette being actual spirits. I flipping love Crossovers and AUs). If you notice any errors, pleaaaase point them out. Again, I've been on and off working on this and at some points, I kept noticing interactions occurring with already interacted objects. It was... it was a thing.
> 
> Well, nothing much else to say. If I come back with anything later, it'll probably be for Chat Pawtrol so until that update, please leave kudos, comments, and subscribe!


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